Habakkuk 3:17-18 In Season Out of Season

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (KJV)  Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

Following the Lord is an in season and out of season joyful journey. In those out of season times when the weather is rough, the tide is high, let us trust the Lord to plough on.

When the fig tree blossoms not, the vine fruitless, the olive fails, the field barren, the flock and the herd scattered, the Lord still grants by His Spirit a joyful heart to His servant. We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

It is the spirit of God that grants us the joy of following despite the cross for Jesus sets us the example “,,, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The hymn “So Send I You” describes the out of season moments:

So send I you—to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing—
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

So send I you—to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wand’ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world aweary—
So send I you, to suffer for My sake.

So send I you—to loneliness and longing,
With heart a hung’ring for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one—
So send I you, to know My love alone.

So send I—to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labour long, and love where men revile you—
So send I you, to lose your life in Mine.

So send I you—to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, tho it be blood, to spend and spare not—
So send I you to taste of Calvary.
“As the Father hath sent Me, So send I you.”

May the Lord grant His grace to keep following Him. Amen.